Z is for Zoo!!

don't you love her face in this one?

takin' a break

she's so purdy!

this was our train conductor. i think his name was paul

they have a little kid's train ride that takes you through the zoo (there's not really much to it). the whole ride took maybe 10 minutes.

the kids (and richie) loved it, though!

For our Z day, we took the kids to the Abilene Zoo. it's just a small zoo, and we've been there a bunch of times, but we hadn't been since molly was a baby, so it was mostly new to the kids. they have a train ride that they've added to it, and they've remodeled a bit. it was really pretty and hot. we saved the indoor exhibits until the end when we were just too tired of the heat. it worked out perfectly, and the kids had a fun time! it was a great way to end the summer break!

First Day of School!

Well, it's official, I now have 2 kids in school full time. It was kinda nice only having 2 girls with me in the store this morning. When I dropped Jayne off, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She just seemed to go with the flow. Lucy's already a grade school veteran, so she had to no problems going to her new classroom. I guess it helps when some of the kids in her class are the same kids she's been going to school with for the past 2 years. So, they both had a fantastic first day of school, and Jayne says she "loves" kindergarten! Yay!

8 Months

Abby turned 8 months old on Saturday! I can't believe how cute she's gotten! Time is just flying by!

Y is for You

the pages in molly's were a little simpler than the others'

For the letter Y, the girls made these super cute "All About Me" books. they really seemed to enjoy making them, and i was a little surprised by some of the girls' answers. of all the places we've taken the kids, including out of state, they chose the local planetarium and atrium!

X is for eXploring the local farmer's market!

For the letter X, we went downtown to explore the local farmer's market. The kids all brought a couple dollars each so they could buy something if they wanted to, and Lucy got some homemade bath wash, Jayne and Molly both got some cookies (one looked like a cupcake, the other was an ice cream cone). i bought some grass fed meat (a brisket, ofcourse), some homemade blueberry jam, and a golden honeydew (which is something we've never tried before). They had all sorts of fun booths, and i'm thinking we will definately go back!

W is for Getting "W"et at the Splash Park!!

waitin' for the big bucket of water to dump on them

(they kinda had to sike themselves up for it)

Abby loved it!

Miss Molly was terrified for the first hour or so that we were there. mostly of the loud horn that would sound when the big bucket was about to pour all over everyone, but she warmed up to it for the last 30 minutes of so!

it was really hot yesterday (like everyday this summer), and it was very refreshing getting to play in the water! The kids had a blast!

V is for Villian!!

everybody had to have a job in the pudding making process, so molly poured the milk...

jayne added the mix...

and lucy did our whisking

mmm...vanilla wafers...

It was hard coming up with something easy for the letter V that would work will all 3 kids (2 to 7 years old). So, i thought, why not make some instant (again, easy) "V"anilla pudding and have some "V"anilla wafers for a snack? we then watched a movie about the "mastermind of 'V'illainy" MegaMind. Easy and fun!

U is for Universe!!!

To learn about the universe, the kids and i went to the Astronomy for Kids website. they had some fun facts about all the planets in our solar system, and some fun games for the kids to play. i think they really liked it!